This invention relates to the care and cleaning of human teeth, and more particularly relates to methods and apparatus for cleaning the interproximal surfaces of the teeth, the gum margins, grooves and embrasures thereof.
It is well known in the prior art that toothbrushes have been integrated into a daily regimen of effective personal dental hygiene. Indeed, toothbrushes are the primary implement regularly used to prevent the formation of plaque on the surfaces of the teeth.
It is also well known that plaque, a sticky film consisting of food particles, saliva and bacteria formed on the surfaces of the teeth, if not removed from these surfaces by abrasive action and the like, ultimately forms hardened deposits of tartar. Of course, as is known to those skilled in the art, once tartar is formed, it may be removed only by a dentist. If, on the other hand, tartar is not removed therefrom, dental decay and even periodontal disease are apt to occur.
Accordingly, to avoid dental decay and disease, daily brushing and flossing of the teeth and gums is recommended by dentists and the like. The use of conventional toothbrushes and dental floss tends to clean the easy-to-reach or free surfaces of the teeth, the gum margin in the front and labial portion of the mouth cavity, and the embrasures between the teeth, particularly where there is no or minimal impacting between adjacent teeth. On the other hand, convenient cleaning of difficult-to-reach embrasures between the teeth, particularly where there is impacting between adjacent teeth, the gum margin in the rear and lingual portion of the mouth cavity, and the grooves and crevices of the gums, is still lacking an adequate solution in the prior art.
Many effective toothbrush designs are known in the art for the cleaning of the free surfaces of the teeth. The toothbrush art, however, has only been marginally successful in providing a convenient and effective means and method for reaching and cleaning the difficult to access surfaces and spaces of the teeth and gums.
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,043,898, Malcolm discloses a toothbrush constructed with a series of bristles which form oval or elliptical ridges to avoid interference between neighboring bristle tufts while attempting to reach embrasures of the teeth. To promote the brush reaching into the groove formed at the gum margin, the outer tufts are wedge-shaped at the transverse portion of the ridge. While an objective of this bristle configuration is to enable the bristle tips to reach into the tooth-gum interface's grooves and spaces, and into embrasures between adjacent teeth, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the bulk of the head portion of the brush as well as the size and arrangement of the bristle tufts preclude substantial penetration of the bristles into these difficult-to-reach areas.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,943,225, McIntyre disclosed a toothbrush with each tuft of bristles being provided with a crest and free ends cut to form oppositely inclined beveled edges. With these crests of tufts configured alternatively transversely and longitudinally of the head of the brush, the purpose is to penetrate the interproximal spaces of the teeth and to contact the surfaces thereof. Again, the bulky and longitudinal arrangement of the tufts of bristles along the head of the brush, inhibit penetration of the bristles into these difficult-to-reach areas, and the effective cleaning thereof.
As is also well known in the art, it is more difficult to access the interproximal spaces, grooves and embrasures, and the gum margin, in the interior, lingual portion of the mouth cavity than to access the corresponding areas in the exterior, labial portion thereof. Accordingly, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that to effectively reach and access said areas requires an apparatus consisting of structures which cooperate with the contours of the teeth and environing gums to provide penetration and cleaning thereof.
The surface of the toothbrush disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,273 is designed to coincide with the contours of the gum margins. An important objective of this toothbrush is to overcome the limitation of the prior art whereby there is minimal contact between the tooth-gum interfaces because of erratic placement of the bristles upon the said interfaces. Thus, the concept therein is to construct a toothbrush with an undulating brushing surface of alternating convex and concave regions of tufts of bristles wherein said regions conform to the gum margins adjacent the teeth. Additionally, to facilitate the application of the toothbrush in a level, horizontal plane in the mouth cavity, the handle portion is preferably angled down from the head portion thereof.
To further promote the penetration of these bristles into the said tooth-gum interfaces, particularly in the rear portion of the mouth cavity, the brush head portion contains a single row of bristles. Unfortunately, this toothbrush affords limited maneuverability because of the longitudinal disposition of its tufts of bristles. Furthermore, the tendency of the bristles to spread radially, in conjunction with their rounded ends, minimizes penetration into the interproximal spaces of the teeth.
Similarly, the contoured toothbrush disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,742,549 is designed to conform to the natural convexity of the teeth, thereby causing intimate contact between the toothbrush's bristles and the surfaces of the teeth. While the objective is to enable the said bristles to penetrate into the crevices of the gums and the embrasures between the teeth, the array of tufts of bristles is limited in its ability to penetrate these hard-to-reach and remote areas.
In an attempt to overcome limitations of the prior art, Stanford in U.S. Pat. No. 4,517,701 discloses toothbrushes intended for cleaning sulcular areas of the teeth at and below the gum margin thereof. Using a curved toothbrush head portion and soft bristles disposed on both sides thereon, this toothbrush affords improved contact with the gum margin and the tooth-gum interfaces. However, the shape and contour of the tufts of bristles still limit the penetration thereof into the hard-to-reach and remote areas of the mouth cavity.
Still other attempts to advance the toothbrush art are seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,797,424 and 4,570,282. More particularly, Olson in U.S. Pat. No. 2,797,424, discloses a toothbrush with the conventional tuft array arrangement known in the prior art, but with outer rows of long, stiff and pointed bristles, and intermediate rows of shorter, soft and cup-shaped bristles. When placed adjacent the teeth, the outer bristles are guided into the interproximal spaces. Following the lead of the long outer bristles, the soft intermediate bristles spread out and contact the gum cuff and gum margin.
Kaufman in U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,282, discloses a toothbrush with bristles designed to maximize contact with the gum margins and surfaces. The novel v-shaped tooth receiving channel described therein tends to situate the bristles upon the gum surfaces, but affords limited penetration into the crevices and the grooves which characterize the tooth-gum interface.
Still another attempt to effectively remove plaque from difficult-to-reach tooth-gum interfaces is disclosed by d'Argembeau in U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,552. The toothbrush therein, unlike conventional toothbrushes, has bristles which are long enough to penetrate between the tooth-gum interface and reach the gum crevices and groove surfaces. Stiff bristles maintain the reaching ability of the elongated tufts which are disposed longitudinally of the toothbrush. It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that such brush design provides improved penetration features but is limited with regard to maneuverability of the bristles into the tooth-gum interfaces in the various portions of the mouth cavity. Furthermore, only minimal penetration of the bristles into constricted interdental spaces may be expected.
d'Argembeau in U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,920, also discloses a toothbrush with a thin bed of bristles disposed perpendicularly of the handle portion. The spacing of the bristles is designed to cooperate with the interdental width, whereby the bed can reach into the interproximal spaces and brush the surfaces therein.
As hereinbefore mentioned, the prior tooth-gum interface cleaning art is not necessarily confined to toothbrushes. Obviously, as a commonly used element of personal hygiene, a toothbrush is a familiar item and would tend to be accepted more than a new implement.
The toothpick and floss are also common dental implements which are widely used to clean the teeth and gums. Generally, the use of the toothpick is limited to dislodging food particles from between the teeth and the gum margins thereof. Toothpicks afford no facility for removing plaque from teeth. As is well known, an inherent hazard associated with toothpicks, particularly wooden toothpicks, is their tendency to splinter during use. Additionally, a toothpick's stiffness is ephemeral because of the deleterious affect thereon of the moistness of the mouth.
To extend the usefulness of toothpick-like implements, Yamaki in U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,266, discloses a whisk pick which is an apparatus which provides abrasive forces whereby plaque may be removed from the teeth. While broadening the cleaning characteristics of a toothpick, the whisk pick provides only limited access to and cleaning of the tooth-gum interfaces described herein.
Similarly, dental floss, is designed to dislodge food particles from between the teeth and the gum margins thereof. But floss is ineffective where adjacent teeth are impacted, whereby the floss is inhibited from passing therebetween. Furthermore, floss tends to tear where there is only a minimal interstice between adjacent teeth. Under these circumstances, the severed floss may be difficult to remove from the interstice, causing discomfort therewith. As is well known in the art, flossing is inherently slow and typically improperly administered. Accordingly, for these and other reasons, flossing is not universally integrated into a program of personal dental hygiene.
Accordingly, these limitations and disadvantages of the prior art are overcome with the present invention, and improved means and techniques are provided which are especially useful for penetrating and cleaning the interstices and interproximal areas between the teeth, the surfaces at and below the gum margins, and the tooth-gum interfaces including the grooves and crevices thereof.